Peer-reviewed article
Investing in early childhood development in the context of reforming educational funding in Ukraine
Nataliia Nazukova ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article examines pre-primary education financing in Ukraine, comparing public investment levels with neighboring European countries. The author argues that Ukraine significantly underfunds early childhood education despite evidence that every dollar spent on pre-primary programs generates $4 to $17 in social returns. The analysis identifies Ukraine's low financial viability for quality pre-school services and recommends increasing support for private institutions through regulatory reform and public-private partnerships.
Key points
- Early childhood development, particularly pre-primary education, is recognized internationally as foundational for child development
- Research shows $1 invested in pre-primary education generates $4 to $17 in social return
- Ukraine has lower pre-primary education funding levels and negative financing trends compared to neighboring EU countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania)
- Without policy changes, Ukraine risks lagging behind average social returns from pre-school education compared to developed economies
- Recommendations include supporting licensed private pre-school institutions, simplifying regulatory procedures, and implementing public-private partnership financing models
Limitations
This is a policy analysis and comparative review rather than an empirical study, so it does not provide direct evidence of outcomes for children in Ukraine or other countries. The document does not present original data on actual child well-being outcomes or measure the effectiveness of proposed financing reforms.
Abstract
The world community agrees on the conceptualizing nature of early childhood development. This was formulated in the Incheon Declaration and in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The most significant part of the early development concept is the pre-primary education, which covers early childhood educational development and pre-school programs. Society's investments in early childhood development are highly profitable as resources spent are much less than the return from them: according to some estimates, $1 spent on pre-primary education can gain from $4 to $17 of social return. At the same time, financial resources, that countries can spent on education, are limited, especially after the latest financial crisis. In Ukraine, the situation is worsened by the domestic socio-economic crisis of 2013–2014. The article aims at grounding the ways of pre-primary education financing in Ukraine in the context of the implementation of early childhood development concept. The author assesses financial support for childcare, early childhood education and pre-school education programs in different countries. The comparative analysis showed a low level of financing and a negative trend in Ukraine, in particular compared with the neighboring EU-countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. This indicates a low financial viability of providing quality pre-school education services in Ukraine. If the trend remains, Ukraine will lag behind the average indicators of social returns from pre-school education, especially in comparison with developed economies. The author substantiates the expediency of applying in Ukraine the measures aimed at supporting licensed private pre-school education institutions, in particular, simplifying the procedures for starting pre-school educational activities, state participation in financing licensed private pre-school institutions and applying innovative schemes for financing pre-school education based on public-private partnership.